“And I of them,” he assured her. “May I take them to the games tomorrow?”
“Of course except Eutropia. I’m afraid she’s still too much of a baby for such affairs. May I present my confessor, Bishop Hosius of Cordoba?”
Hosius bowed in acknowledgment of the introduction. “As one of your subjects, I pray daily for your welfare, Augustus,” he said.
“But I am not a Christian.”
“You are a man of principle, like your father. And because you are, our people in Gaul, Spain and Britain have been freed from persecution and our churches rebuilt.”
Bishop Hosius
“Bishop Hosius is from Spain and was a close friend of your father’s,” Theodora explained to Constantine. “I asked him to remain at Treves and act as my confessor, but I’m afraid I have imposed upon him.”
“Not at all.” Hosius’ fine eyes glowed in a smile. “Your chamberlain, Eumenius, and I are old opponents in debate and discussion, Augustus. Seldom have I spent more pleasant months than I have here.”
“I didn’t know you were a Christian, Augusta,” Constantine said when the churchman had departed to hear the prayers of the children.
“Do you disapprove?”
“Not at all; I have many Christian friends. Tell me, was my father a Christian? Eborius in Britain said he was not.”
“It’s true that Constantius never professed to the Christian belief,” Theodora said. “I think in his heart he was one of us though, and eventually would have acknowledged it publicly. But with the edicts of Diocletian still in force and persecution going on in the East and in Egypt, it didn’t seem a good idea at the time. And then” her voice broke a little ‘“it was too late.”
“You spoke just now of Hosius as your confessor. I’m not familiar with the word.”
“We Christians try to five our fives according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, but we are only human and therefore certain to sin,” she explained. “Forgiveness of our sins has been promised us if we confess them freely and publicly, so most of us confess to a priest and are assigned some deed to be done in penance before we can be forgiven.”
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